International Day of Peace
Statement at the beginning of the morning general debate
on Friday, 20 September 2002

Distinguished Delegates,

by its resolution 55/282, the General Assembly decided that, with effect from the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly, the International Day of Peace shall be observed every year on 21 September. By the same resolution, the General Assembly declared the International Day of Peace as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence and invited all nations and people to commemorate the day by honouring a 24-hour cessation of hostilities and through, inter alia, education and public awareness.

For the past two decades the United Nations has been commemorating the International Day of Peace. By adopting the above mentioned resolution, however, the General Assembly not only set a firm date for the observation of the International Day of Peace, but it also provided the forum in which the International Day of Peace could have a global reach and a practical impact. In this way, I believe, the decision adopted by the 55th General Assembly has strengthened the significance of the Day, a significance which should even grow in coming years.